Improvement in preservation of caustic alkalies



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO JOHN SEIBERLING, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRESERVATION OF CAUSTIC ALKALIES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 29.625, dated August LI, 1860.

To @ZZ whom it may con-cern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SEIEEELING, M. D., of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Putting Up and Preserving Caustic Potash or Soda in Small Quantities; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear7 and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specication, and to the letters of reference marked t-hereon.

The nature of my invention consists in providing a wooden box coated or glazed on the inner side with a varnish or japan of coal-tar or asphaltum, prepared substantially as hereinafter described, so as to make the same impervious to either air or moisture, and hermetically inclosing within the said box caustic potash or soda previously adapted in form for the purpose by' casting it in a mold free from iron or other metal, whereby the said alkalies are preserved in small quantities in the cheap merchantable form required in the same purity in which they are put into the boxes, or in such a manner as to preclude the entrance of atmospheric air or moisture or the absorption of metallic oxides.

To enable others skilled in the art to which it4 belongs to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the drawing, which represents a central longitudinal section of the box and its inclosure.

I take cylindrical boxes A, turned out of solid, close-grained wood and itted with lids A of the same material, substantially in the manner and form indicated in the drawing, and coat or glaze the inner sides of the same with about two coats of a japan or varnish consisting of boiled coal-tar or asphaltum mixed with common Whiting and spirits of turpentine, vin proportions suitable for producing a thick duid japan or varnish that will dry hard and remain durable and impervious to air ror moisture. I now prepare the caustic potash or soda by high heat in a soapstone or other vessel free from metal, and cast it in soapstone molds adapted in size and shape to produce cylinders or blocks B of the said caustic alkali that will respectively and precisely fill the interiors of the said boxes A when their lids are closed down upon them, as seen in the drawing. After the said cylinders or lumps B of the caustic alkali are cooled or hardened sufiiciently, they are respectively inserted in the glazed boxes A and the lids A immediately closed tightly down upon them, and then their respective joints G covered by lapping over them strips d of paper, muslin, or other similar fabric recently coated with some of the previouslydescribed-japan, or with glue, bees` Wax, or any other adhesive cement that Will be impervious to air or moisture. As an additional security, the outer ends ofthe wooden boxes A may be cemented over in the same manner. It willbe evident that caustic potash or soda thus put up in small quantities in a merchantable form will be kept free from the access of external air or moisture, and also free from any possibility of absorbing oxide of iron or other metals.

I am aware that caustic potash or soda has been run in a red-hot state into iron boxes, afterward closed, so as to protect the alkali from air and moisture; but such inclosing-vessels necessarily impart a large proportion of oxide of iron to the hot contents, and so render the same unfit for many important purposes. Therefore I do not claim, broadly, the putting up of caustic potash or soda in small vessels adapted to preclude the entrance of air or moisture; neither do I confine my invention to any particular materials that may be suitable for making the japan coating; but,

Having fully described my invention and pointed out its utility, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Putting up caustic potash or soda in small quantities in wooden boxes previously prepared or coated on their inner sides and subsequently sealed hermetically, substantially i'n'the manner and for the purposes set forth A lVitnesses:

J. O. ZOELLIN, BENJ. Morrison'. 

